15 days
(São Thomé das Letras)
Preface
The 15 days project was born in May 2023, when there were still doubts about when it would be viable (when would i be on vacation?), there was also a doubt about which city would be chosen for the project. Two cities completely outside the tourist “mainstream” but full of mysticism, legends, stories of inexplicable phenomena, seemed to catch me in a deeper way or a mere desire to embark towards the intangible to the organs of the senses. The initial idea was: 15 days in a specific place, each day a chronicle based on real experiences, short and concise (only 1 page long), a poem with a free theme but inspired by the moment and an illustration , drawing or painting with theme associated with what was most important during the day. At first i could already see that from the planned concept, only the aesthetic formatting could be maintained (1 chronicle +1 poetry + 1 visual representation-drawing, painting or illustration) once the chosen location (destination city) was defined, i began to have inspiration for writing poetry (more than 2 months before departure), this inspiration returned with just over a week before going into the journey.
The inspiring impulse was received without restrictions and the adjustments were worked on and the poems were waiting for some situation to be experienced that had the appropriate connection. Before i even went, i was faced with this situation where i decided that i could not “stifle” my creative process, therefore, there would be no page limits for poems, chronicles or visual representations. In case of abundance of material, these will be connected according to the theme involved in each day's chronicle, if the opposite happens (lack of material) there will be space for free expression later during revisions, re-readings and adjustments.
During the production of the material, i was able to realize how difficult it was to reconcile everyday domestic tasks with explorations, photographic recording work, experiences , physical and non-physical demands, as well as transcribing everything involved into words. It is important to point out that in a city with ups and downs, even buying bread (depending on where you buy it) involves physical effort. As the days went by and i reread what was being written, i noticed that the chronicles had a strong characteristic of reporting, but because my interpretation over the facts still exists at times, calling it a report would not leave room for disagreements and interpretations from the reader.
I also noticed the undeniable quality (the result of my commitment) of the photographs captured, and it occurred to me that it would be interesting (in the “final product”- book) to intersperse some photos over the chronicles. Much later (in the final revisions) i found potential in the photos for another (photographic) project entitled “São Thomé’s black and white beauties ” which will have all my attention and care in processing the images and which will be exhibited simultaneously as a parallel project . I also decided that it was important to add a "soundtrack" to the original aesthetic formatting because many times (almost all), i wrote and drew with music playing, most of the domestic work was also performed with the sound of music, so nothing more fair than taking it to the reader this “facet” of what was experienced in a way that can also be the suggestion of a sound expression that often minimized my physical exhaustion. Today, i remember arriving at the airport several hours in advance for the first part of the transfer, with the purposeful intention of writing the outline of what would later become this preface and introduction, in addition to asking divine energies for protection, guidance and dexterity to put into words what awaited me.
May anyone who reads it be able to take advantage of this first work of mine, conceived in a free and receptive way in its essence, which will be exposed in an unrestricted way (with all my care for your pleasure) but without my authorization for reproduction on commercial purposes. I will try, even with English without the brilliance it used to have, or as my son says: your English is “bald as an egg”, to put this “egg” up on it’s own , will be my last effort to reach as many readers as possible.
A fraternal hug, Gustavo.
Introduction
My direction of study and attention to the 15 days project happened in the middle of June (2023) when i had confirmation that i had scheduled my vacation for August, but there was a possibility of change. Initially i thought about moving to the end of the year because this way i would be able to better study my destination city, in addition to the existence of important astrological events during this period of the year that could perhaps, in some way, impact the project, this was the logical understanding trying to be a priority, but i decided that this project would have emotion overcoming reason and therefore, my heart asked for me to go as soon as possible, therefore, i kept the vacation date with a small intervention: i made a request for this to start on the first Monday of August. With the change approved, i dedicated even more attention and study to my destination and the entire route that had to be taken to reach my final destination.
São Thomé das Letras has a good structure in terms of accommodation (for those who do not require luxury and refinement), the access possibilities are diverse, the roads are relatively good and the city meets all the prerequisites regarding mysteries, inexplicable phenomena, natural beauty and has an auspicious location.
Sign of São Thomé das Letras
My destination city is located in the south of the state of Minas Gerais (southeast of Brazil), has
approximately 7,000 inhabitants (IBGE-2022-6,904 inhabitants), is 1,400 meters above sea level (over a quartzite deposit), surrounded by rocks, waterfalls and enjoys an abundant but peculiar fauna and flora. São Thomé das Letras has practically all of its streets paved with large and irregular stone blocks that, combined with a relief with inclines and declines, denotes an extra degree of difficulty in locomotion wich is not uncomfortable for those who do not have some kind of physical limitation. . The sidewalks, used to make my heavy suitcase slide on the wheels, are not uniform so from moment to moment it was necessary to carry the suitcase.
Street on São Thomé das Letras
Obviously these reported characteristics will be useful for those arriving or wishing to travel
on foot (like me). For those who intend to get there or move around the city by car, my advice
is to be gentle on the accelerator and prepare for the sensation of “riding a horse” inside the car. Due to the proximity of mega urban centers such as São Paulo (347 km), Rio de Janeiro (330 km) and Belo Horizonte (311 km), on weekends, long holidays or during school holidays, the city
absorbs an immense amount of people, i would say that its local population becomes more than double the official residents (according to information received).
With this massive influx, individuals with all degrees of conscience arrive, when i say “degrees of conscience” please do not understand this as a synonym for degrees of education , but people with the most diverse understandings regarding individual respect and environmental care . Tourist spots closer to the city center (especially during the mentioned special periods) suffer from plastic bottles, metal cans and many cigarette butts, in addition to being possible to see and feel the presence of biological waste, there is also the presence of noise pollution with all types of music without volume or time control . Finally, all the problems of a big city plague São Thomé das Letras, more incisively in those periods mentioned and which from my point of view invite sublimation and understanding that the true city only reveals itself in the days of a common week.
I'm not sure if it happens every month of the year or if it's a seasonal thing, but during the time i was in the city (in the city center) i noticed that with the first signs of sunlight, there's a beautiful “symphony “ played for many jandaias, parrots, bem-te-vis, thrushes and other birds that for those who like
to wake up early are a beautiful spectacle and unusual natural alarm clock (normally i would
wake up before the “symphony”).
"Party time" for the birds on the early hours of morning
It is worth informing the reader that the city's main economic activities are: tourism and mineral extraction (mining) so eventually (throughout the week) you hear what i initially thought was the bursting of a truck or bus tire and then i was informed that it dealt with “explosions” to remove the quartzite. The presence of transmission, retransmission, communication towers are very notable in the city, i don't know if for reasons relating to energy, altitude or both, but their visual and energetic impact on the city cannot be denied. If it is true that the city has countless tourist attractions, i can also say with the expertise of someone who spent a few days in the “heart” of the city that the population residing in the city gives a special shine and charm to the place because the promptness and hospitality abounds in hearts.
I invite you to immerse yourself in the myriad of experiences lived in São Thomé das Letras during these 15 days of the project, shall we?
Chapter 0 – The arrival
The journey to São Thomé das Letras, from my starting point (city of Recife in the state of
Pernambuco), even nowadays, has nuances of a pilgrimage because considering the air and land
part it takes 11 hours traveling which in reality involves much more time due to the impossibility of synchronizing the stages to be completed, the departure times do not coincide and i confess that even if they did, it would not seem appropriate to me because considering the normal and possible delays, being present on one of the synchronized sections could represent much more time waiting for arrival at the destination. The aerial part took place normally without events worth mentioning, the first land journey (from Confins airport to Belo Horizonte bus station) also took place calmly, it was early in the morning and through the bus window, i could see a little bit of the city of Belo Horizonte. What little i saw seemed like the city of São Paulo, but with its peculiar relief (ups and downs) and a better urban planning, perhaps due to a much less dense population. I felt like getting off the bus and staying for a few days (maybe another opportunity?), arriving at the bus station i was finally able to have my breakfast and set off for the second land section of the sequence, it was the longest section of the sequence (298 km) from the Belo Horizonte bus station to the Três Corações bus station and has an estimated time of 6 hours to complete the route, which practically crosses the state of Minas Gerais heading south.
Wherever i went (on the highway), i could see the agricultural “strength” of Minas Gerais, tractors and machines were exposed for sale in various parts of the route, immense plantations, mainly coffee, cattle raised extensively with a large area of pasture on farms that without any fear of a mistake had the size of small cities (in the northeast of the country). Mainly when there was proximity to an urban center, small houses with crops in small spaces were also observed, probably for subsistence purposes. Arriving at Três Corações bus station, already very tired, i bought the ticket for the last stretch that would go to São Thomé das Letras bus station, i report here that the company responsible for transport does not sell the ticket in advance (if it were possible i would already buy it there the return ticket).
The final journey would last approximately 1 hour and could last a little longer than that as
there is a stop in the “middle of the way”, at the bus station in a city called São Bento do Abade,
in addition to the unusual fact that if someone requests it (along the entire route) ) stop to get
on or off the bus, was attended to promptly. The trip that started with all the passengers seated
and some empty seats, ended with all the seats occupied and about 8 people standing on the
bus.
I arrived at the São Thomé das Letras bus station very tired, it was late afternoon and it was starting to get dark, as soon as i picked up my luggage, i did as agreed, calling the owner of the rented apartment to let her know that i had finally arrived. Upon receiving my call, she instructed me to go to the city's tourist reception desk and when i got there, call again. As i had previously captured the map with the path between the bus station and the rented apartment, i initially started climbing a hill which was a real challenge because added to the wear and tear of the trip, I had more than 4 kg on my back (backpack) and a suitcase with about 7 kg that i eventually had to carry due to the irregularities in the sidewalk. From what i remember, i stopped at least 5 times before completing the climb and when i checked the map i didn't see anything that coincided with the place i was.
I decided to turn on the Internet and access the location app to be guided. I started going down on a parallel street and when i realized i was on the way back to the bus station, i stopped and called the apartment owner again, she gave me a new (easier) reference point, the central square. On this occasion I had the sad confirmation that the map captured and the location reported by the application referred to apartment unit 1 and the one i rented was in unit 2 (near the square). Completely exhausted, despair set in and i decided to turn off my cell phone and ask for information on how to get to the central square. The guidance i received was: “keep moving forward” which meant: go back up the hill, in the situation i found
myself in , i could no longer walk 15 meters without stopping. Without strength, out of breath, completely disoriented, i continued.
A certain saying goes that “whoever wants to reach the heavens needs to learn how to kneel”,
reduced to very little, my destiny seemed to ask for this learning. At the height of tiredness and
despair, i turned on my cell phone again and went to the Uber app, i received the information that the app does not operate in the city, there were no taxis around. There was nothing to do but give in to my luck, but before sitting on the sidewalk with my suitcase, i decided to call the owner of the rented apartment one more time and gave the names of places that i could see, she advised me to look to the right side and as i did so i saw the city's tourist reception (the apartment was opposite). I don't know if it was due to desperation, tiredness or both, i was actually next to the initial reference without absolutely knowing where i was going.
I went to the front door of the apartment without turning off the phone, such was my
insecurity, the door had an electronic device (an electronic lock) that required a password to
open. I was given the password, the owner wrote it in a text message and i managed to get it wrong 3 times in a row resulting in a security lock and so i had to wait another 10 minutes to
make a new attempt. After the necessary time, i finally managed to open the door and a mixture
of joy and sadness invaded my heart when i saw that to get to the apartment i would have to
climb 14 steps of a staircase. Once i got over the stairs (with suitcase and backpack), i went in a
sequence of: shower, eat something and bed.
Chapter 0 playlist:
John Mayer: ○ Album: Room for squares
○ Album: Heavier things
Eyes on me (2023)
Acrylic
Meeting point
While the sun ran over the back of all your saints, i ran to meet you
Swallowing imposed pains and avoiding the severe obscurities thrown without force to germinate
In the land where the sacred fire passed, eternal embers burn, enlivened by the constant wind
The sun was preparing for the well-deserved rest on those highlands and with enormous effort, i crawled along the path
The night reigned, the prose ended and the dismantled body succumbed, alone
The plan wich made the point a straight line , left in a discontinuous way until reach it’s destination
Pieces united and polished with the strength of everything that shines in the early hours of the morning
Without signs or open trails i simply followed and listened to the vigorous movement of your waters
I bowed and asked for blesses of time, may it would ease my hunger for connection stabilized by light along the journey
The devices couldn't help and the authorized symbiosis proved to be nutritionally effective
Actingless people by decree pushed me to the roof of a hollow pyramid, meticulously erected
I saw the fire of a timeless landmark , our meeting point , i finally meet you , mixed up with the blue of a cloudless sky in a paused moment of glory
Receive my ardor , my color and with all the good will that surrounds us , let us dry out ( in the sun) a cry from the past , purged and treated as necessary.
Thus we begin a fermentation in our precision fitting and hand in hand we close the beginning of an endless partnership
Gustavo H.F. de Sousa (2023) Project 15 days
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